Showing posts with label Armed Forces Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Armed Forces Day. Show all posts

February 11 - African Holidays (Again!)

Posted on February 11, 2020

The continent of Africa is huge - the second largest in the world. (Actually, this depends on your list of continents, since some people count Europe as separate from Asia, and others bundle them together into Eurasia; and some people count North America as separate from South America, and others bundle them together as the Americas. I am using the 7 continent scheme: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. (Listed from largest to smallest.)
If you put all of Europe into Africa, you'd still have room
left over for three of the largest nations in the world
(#3 China, #4 U.S., and #7 India).

Not only is Africa huge, it's extremely diverse, with lands that are super dry deserts and lands that are warm, humid rainforests; with biological diversity that includes our favorite zoo and circus animals; with human diversity, including the most genetic diversity and also enormous cultural diversity.

You can get a taste of how diverse the cultures are in Africa by realizing that there are between 1,500 and 2,000 languages spoken there!

I'm going to talk a bit about two different African nations that happen to have holidays on the same day - today! - but remember that within each of these nations, there is a. Lot. Of. Diversity!

Today is Armed Forces Day in Liberia.

During the mid-1900s, when so many African nations were suffering from civil wars and military coups, Liberia managed to stay stable under President W. V. S. Tubman. But in the late 1900s, post-Tubman years, the country was plunged into two wars, and the armed forces were entangled in those wars. Many people suffered from horrible acts done by soldiers; much of the armed forces were wiped out, and most of the desire to celebrate the armed forces was wiped out as well!

However, the nation began to restructure its armed forces and paraded before the president and people in 2007.


Today is Youth Day in Cameroon.

Getting kids involved with community and country.

Helping kids become more active in constructive ways.

Youth Day in Cameroon includes parades, workshops, performances, sports, competitions, tree-plantings, and community service projects. 



Here are a few of my favorite places in each nation:

Mount Nimba is a high peak located in Liberia:





Kpatawee Waterfall, in Liberia, is a popular spot for tourists:


I always like ancient formations and ruins:


Mount Cameroon is the highest mountain in Cameroon:


Lobé Waterfalls (in Cameroon) pour directly into the ocean:


Reunification Monument, Cameroon:


The highlands of Cameroon:




Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

October 6 - War "Holidays" in Egypt and Syria

Posted October 6, 2019

This is a tough write-up to create, because it involves the Middle East - and there has been so much racism, religious bigotry, hatred, violence, warfare, terrorism, and sectarianism (too much attachment to one particular version of a religion, or to one particular political party, or any other "sect") in that region of the world.

For millennia.


On this date in 1973, the combined forces of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel. It was the beginning of the war called the Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War, October War, or the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.


Even though Israel was the military winner, the Arab forces did well enough that their confidence was boosted and the outside world put pressure on both sides to engage with peace talks. It was at the 1978 Camp David Accord that there was the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country.


Today is celebrated as Armed Forces Day in Egypt and as the Anniversary of October Liberation War in Syria. 

Compare Egypt and Syria...

Egypt is about five times larger than Syria, and much richer as a nation - AND richer per person - as well.

Even though both countries are located in "the Middle East," they are on different continents. Egypt is in Africa, and Syria is in Asia. 




The Ancient Egyptian civilization is sooooo well known - pyramids, pharaohs, and even particular people like Nefertiti, King Tut, and Cleopatra are still famous today!


But ancient Syria was a big deal to the human species; it is considered to be a part of the "cradle of civilization." This region was one of the centers of Neolithic culture, and agriculture and cattle breeding seem to have appeared there first in the entire world. The ancient Syrian kingdom of Ebla isn't well known by most of us, but the land now known as Syria was also part of the better known Assyrian and Hittite Empires. It was later annexed by Cyrus the Great, then Alexander the Great, and then finally Pompey the Great - thus becoming part of the Achaemenid, Greek Macedonian, and Roman Empires.




Both Egypt and Syria are considered Arab countries; Arabic is the official language of both nations, and Islam is the now most common religion in both places. (Obviously, there were other religions practiced in all those ancient civilizations!)

Egypt is not only richer than Syria, it is much more powerful in the world and more peaceful and stable. As a matter of fact, Syria ranks last in the Global Peace Index, because there is so much violence and war there. (Outside forces and influences have unfortunately added to the level of violence.)

Both nations have a lot of arid territory - arid plateaus, deserts - but both nations have some Mediterranean coastline and important rivers. 

Syria's Mediterranean coast, above.
Two below, the famous Egyptian city of Alexandria
lies on the Mediterranean coast.


The Euphrates River, above, runs through Syria.
Egypt's Nile River, below, is the longest river in the world.


We all need to work for more peace, longer peace, deeper peace, in the Middle East and all over the world. 



Also on this date:




Birthday of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer


(First Sunday in October)



(First Sunday of October)






Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

September 25 - Armed Forces Day in Mozambique

Posted on September 25, 2019

The African nation of Mozambique honors today the beginning of the armed struggle against Portuguese colonizers. Unfortunately, after a long period of violence, guerrilla warfare, and sometimes more conventional battles, when Mozambique won its independence in 1975, almost immediately the nation plunged into an even longer civil war. 

Thank goodness things have been more stable since 1994. There were incidents - scuffles of insurgency - perpetrated by the group RENAMO in some regions, but recently a peace agreement seems to have been reached for good.

Something to celebrate, for sure!

This map shows the location of Mozambique.

Here are some other things in Mozambique worth celebrating.

The amazing artisan / handicraft market in Maputo, the capital and largest city:




The gorgeous Ponta Do Ouro Bay and Beach:




Mountains and cliffs, like the Gurungue chain...



....and Mount Panda:


I always love me some waterfalls, and the Murombodzi Falls are lovely!


Oooh, and this watery landscape is gorgeous!


Of course, as always, the people!








Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)